Ninjaland
by M aeeeeee
Summary: In which little civilian girls with strange superpowers should not be allowed to socialize with psychotic ninjas, spoil the future to a bunch of children, or be given the right to wage shinobi wars she technically isn't a part of. Welcome to Ninjaland. AU
1. Part One, Emma in Ninjaland

**Summary:  
****In which little civilian girls with strange superpowers should not be allowed to socialize with psychotic ninjas, spoil the future to a bunch of children, or be given the right to wage shinobi wars she technically isn't a part of. Welcome to Ninjaland.  
****AKA, Ryleigh (who goes by Emma) isn't like most girls. She can randomly teleport (Or "Shift") from her home on Earth and into a ninja's backyard garden shed by complete accident, and her first name is spelled weirdly. This clearly means something.**

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**Before we start-**

**This is an AU.**  
**Kaguya officially doesn't exist anymore. Her sons killed her. The genjutsu moon's eye plan or whatever never included sapping people of chakra.**  
**There's also other factors that will reveal themselves over time.**

**That's all.**

**Huge thank you to LinzRW on for inspiring me with her story "The Skipper"!**

**This is just for fun. I update when I want. Please enjoy. :)**

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Hello!

My name is Ryleigh, but please do me a huge favor and call me Emma! It's what I prefer. I know you know that already, but it's important to note because Emma is actually my middle name, which is way less ridiculous to say and spell! Trust me on this, English is terrible.

Anyway, I'm not like most girls, as my completely unique and special name implies. I may totally look normal, but my appearance is merely a front set in place to lure creatures like you into a false sense of security before I strike like the terrible vixen I am.

...Oh, so it's proof you want, right? Am I actually that special, you ask? Am I _actually_ the embodiment of temptation and sin that I claim to be? Let me list a few things to start, then.

(I don't care that you probably don't care. I care and that's all I care about.)

First, when I was like seven or something, good ol' mom told me while driving to the market about how as a baby, I never cried for anything. This was at the end of March by the way, I remember because the snow was beginning to melt outside, and we had passed a local church building that held a giant billboard of Jesus (no, I won't tell you who Jesus is) staring down menacingly at me as we drove by. Pretty sure it was because Easter was just around the corner. Basic time and context clues, and all that.

She was always told by more experienced mothers and doctors that when distressed babies needed a changing, food, or a good nap, they would cry out for their parents to help them. It's a survival instinct ingrained into us and continuously trained from the time we were born. Babies _literally_ cry for attention! Pretty interesting, right? The thing is though, I apparently wasn't very good at that. I never cried over anything at all. I was never frightened, excited, or terribly upset. This was probably because I was a very tired, weak baby that needed constant attention despite how healthy I seemed to be from the moment I was born, which baffled my pediatricians (I had seen multiple doctors as an infant because my mom was a paranoid lady who couldn't take the facts). Seeing me at the age I am now, this is a vast difference from how I am to today (Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm much more whiny and needy now, you're lucky I'm not there to slap you with my flimsy, civilian hand). I was also kind of a blank slate, go-with-the-flow kind of child, despite getting in loads of trouble with adults over small things. That may not seem very strange you, but it was where I'm from. Very out of the norm. This also doubled onto the fact that I somehow became good at lying from a young age despite the lack of a role model. I've been able to lie to many adults in my life, including a lot of dangerous Shinobi I've come across.

Now, onto the second piece of evidence. Right after she told me that, the two of us got stuck inside a fiery car accident that instantly killed my mom before I could even understand what was going on. I won't go into too much detail about it, but the gist of it is that my mom didn't stop at the four-way like she was supposed to. Other driver either didn't see their stop sign or simply didn't care, and T-boned right into the driver's side door at around sixty miles per hour. You've seen the scars I got from it, it wasn't pretty. I didn't shift away in time.

Oh, cars are like those big, metal, boxy thingies that take you places at high speeds that I told you about once. Don't remember that? Don't worry too much about it, then. Maybe I'll write an index when I'm finished writing this or something.

I think one tragedy of that day was the fact that I didn't really care at the time. I do now of course, and I actually feel really bad about it looking back.

After her funeral, which consisted of watching her casket burn inside a funeral home's incinerator (not that there was much to watch burn in the first place), it wasn't long when I was finally placed in my country's foster care system. I was a teen pregnancy my dad skipped out on, and none of moms "friends" felt like taking responsibility for a freshly orphaned child either, so I was on my own. Nobody wanted to adopt me, the older and more troublesome I got. It's for this reason that I've grown up rather bitter, loud-mouthed and attention seeking.

And finally, the real no-brainer to this whole equation (an actual knee slapper, really), I could utilize the abilities of interdimensional space and time travel to my own whims and randomly hop into an entirely separate universe. No, I'm not a timelord, I'm just incredibly gifted like that.

See? I'm hella special.

...Okay, not exactly like that, but I'm still not lying. As a little girl, since I was at least five or so, I've randomly been able to teleport from wherever I was to an entirely separate universe completely different from my birth one. Crazy, right? It's the reason most people found me so hard to put up with. I call it Shifting.

While I was out frolicking on a different planet (world? Universe? Dimension?), time would continue to move on normally back on Earth. I would miss out on school, scheduled events or playdates, and would actually be reported to the police as "missing" for several days at a time before miraculously being found off the side of a highway somewhere. I've been the reason for many Amber Alerts. I would always be known as the trouble child that continued to run away from every foster home she was put in. I was too much to put up with or really keep. I was moved around a lot.

I could never control when and where I ended up either. You know me, I never could stay in one place without moving around, after all. I'm ADD like that. It was a gamble over whether or not I would end up at the bottom of some lake (yes, that's happened a few too many times) or back in my regular bedroom. I never seem to stray too far from my original location however, which is always helpful. It's too bad I've never been able to keep a stable job, though. Or pay rent on time. Or not piss people off. Or keep friends. That last one is always a bummer.

Before you say anything, yes. I know we're friends, please be patient.

Ah, but enough with the sad stuff! I'm sure you already know where I ended up each time I "shifted" from my own world. I would appear in random spots in random time periods and could never predict exactly where I would end up next. Of course, in the end this wasn't so bad. This is how I found myself in Konohagakure, after all. I was able to meet you for the very first time.

I personally like to call this place–this whole world I mean, not Konoha itself–Ninjaland, and you can't stop me. You can continue calling it whatever the hell you want, Elemental Nations, Hogwarts, Mordor, whatever. But my name is far superior, and always will be. I can prove that, too.

...I'm procrastinating. I like to do that, unfortunately.

The reason I've written this..._diary, _I guess, is because I haven't been entirely honest with you. With anyone, really. It's something that I'm relieved I was so tight-lipped about, but at the same time not. Because it means I've been essentially lying to everyone I knew. I usually wouldn't go around just explaining this to anyone, but you're the one person I've come to trust the most. Other than...well, you know who.

(I mean, you don't know him, but I've spoken _of _him. Or maybe you know him now? You both should be the only ones able to read this.)

For now, you should know that this goes beyond just me Shifting around. No, the reality travels down much deeper.

I promise I'll get into that more later. For now, it's time to start the story. It'll take awhile to write, because I have a lot of story to cover. Like, a _lot_. Years worth. And even then, a few important details to my story doesn't even have me in it, so those bits are kinda iffy to explain without explaining a few other things first. But it's fine, because after what literally just happened a few days ago, I know I have all the time in the world.

I'm sorry I'm (you're) not there to answer (ask) any questions you have, or have the ability to tell you this story in person. I can only guess how bad things are for you and everyone else right now. I promise to do my best with what I have, but I can't promise much. I know I said I was trying to come clean, but I'm still afraid (paranoid) that some things are probably better off staying with me–or wherever my body ends up, when all this is said and done.

(Will I even end up in the same place as you, I wonder?)

So...yeah. My name is Emma, and this is my truth.

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**Part One; Emma in Ninjaland**

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It all started with a late night McDonald's trip. No, not my shifting, but it's where all the drama _really_ started.

I was fourteen, it was like ten at night, and I was ordering two things of twenty-piece chicken mcnuggies using the card I smuggled from my foster mom's purse.

Why? I was angry, angsty, and starving. The woman was a vegan who also believed that sending a child off to bed without anything to eat for hours was a suitable punishment. I was also hoping this act of rebellion would finally be the breaking point where she gave me back up to the system. She was a terrible woman with a terrible boyfriend who I never wanted to see again at the time. Looking back at my time with her, however short, I realize that part of the problem was me and my horrible attitude I gave to literally any adult I came to know, but I'm still glad she gave me up so soon before anything truly bad started to happen. The lady had a _nasty_ temper, which is why I only remember her tantrums and not her name.

The look of concern the cashier gave me after ringing up my order of 40-plus chicken nuggets only seemed to fuel my anger in that moment. I remember glaring at her when I collected my order before stomping up to a booth and throwing myself into the seat.

And then I cried. Like, ugly sobbing.

Because life sucked. Because it was unfair. Because I didn't deserve this mess. Because I was so unreasonably angry and hungry and depressed and starving and incredibly, inconsolably, just a _miserable_ child that nobody seemed to have time for.

And I was on my first period. But I wouldn't realize that until later. I never really cramped until I was eighteen or so.

Fun fact.

Even so, I was such a useless, whiny, _crybaby_ back then who only complained and cursed about her problems without doing anything about fixing them. You'll realize for the duration of my storytelling that I continued to grow up with this problem of avoiding my issues or complaining about them. It'll be a long, long while before I got around to being an actual adult.

Anyways, I was sobbing, I was loud, and I was stuffing chicken mcnuggies into my mouth as if someone was about to take them away if I didn't eat them fast enough.

It was another hour before one of the employees gathered up the courage to approach me.

"Miss," the woman's voice was only a little hesitant, but it also spoke of experience. She was probably a manager. "you're disturbing the other patrons in here. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. We can get you a to-go bag, if you'd like."

This proved to make me _more_ frustrated and angry. For one, there was literally no other people in the restaurant. It was just me and my angst alone. The only people I was disturbing were the workers. Second, I wasn't stupid, I could read between the lines. The manager's message pretty much translated to, "You are annoying me and the rest of the workers here, please leave now."

If there was anything more upsetting to me than being flung around the United States like a used, unwanted doll, it was people not liking me or wanting me around anymore. That _stung_.

So when that woman approached and said that to me, however unfair of me it was to react the way I did, I glared at her. It was the kind of glare I gave to my foster parents before one of them slapped me, the one I gave to the other children on the playground that made them avoid me. It was the glare I gave people before I lashed out at them in frustration.

But there was another factor in play here that probably saved me another police trip; I was so _done_, both mentally and physically.

So instead of lashing out at her or causing a dramatic uproar, I balled my fists against the surface of the table and shot up from my seat, the credit card I used to buy my food creasing in my grip.

"Fine," I spat out, even though it wasn't.

But as I turned to leave the booth, not bothering to pick up the rest of my nuggets, I looked up-

-And oh boy, I was definitely _not_ in McDonald's anymore.

I had shifted away, definitely not the first time I had done so, but I was very displeased that it had to be then. I was _especially_ displeased at where it dropped me.

It was a fight. Or at least, a stand-still snowballing in that direction. To picture it, I was in one corner of the room. In front to my left I saw the back of a man (woman?) with long dark hair holding two very sharp, very thin swords. In front of that man (lady?) was another, older man with grey spiked up hair and a weird animal mask over his face. A little strange, but whatever. What really surprised me was the smaller, older man with a very big, impressive hat standing next to him. Behind him were more guys in costumes similar to the one up front. Nobody had noticed me yet.

I don't particularly remember my surroundings, but it was very cold. That doesn't really matter though. Well, it does, but it didn't at the time. What I didn't know then was that the man with the cool hat was the Lord Third of Konohagakure and the one with the mask was his ANBU Captain, Inu.

The man with his back to me was the snake sannin himself. I don't wanna say his name.

I dropped my foster mom's credit card in my disbelief. And yes, she would never be getting that back. It has officially been lost to the tides of Ninjaland History. Not that the credit card is super important to my story or anything, but I would keep the card in mind because this will lead up to something _pretty_ interesting later in the story.

Anyway, I was a small, sickly fourteen-year-old, and I was _pissed_. Not afraid, not confused or panicked like I should have been. I was just upright tired and _pissed_ at the audacity my shifts had to take me away to this very moment. I was done.

"Okay, _hell-to-the-no_."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Eyes turned to the very mad, very much done, little girl in the corner with a puffy, tear-stained face. Probably because I had shouted that in English when I didn't completely know Japanese yet, but whatever. I didn't care.

"I do not have time for this sh-"

And thank goodness I shifted in time, because I don't doubt that my comment would have gotten me killed immediately.

"-it."

And then a kunai flew at my head.

I ducked automatically when I heard the whistle, hitting the floor when it finally hit something behind me with a deep _thunk_.

Of course, I didn't know what those weirdly shaped knife thingies were called at the time, but I digress.

I stood up and prepared myself to run. At first, I thought it was another fight, which I still wasn't prepared for. Today was already terrible enough as it was. I was sent to bed without food, my foster mom's (a she-devil, really) boyfriend slapped me hard enough to grant me a lasting headache, I was (about to be) thrown out of a McDonald's for loitering and disturbing the peace with my loud crying, and my shifts continued to have the _worst_ timing ever by dropping me into the crossfire of wars and ninja battles.

So despite how bad today already was, it only suddenly seemed to get so much worse when I felt the biting cold of metal dig into my neck. Instead of freezing up or carefully assessing the situation like a normal person, I instead cursed really, really loudly and started throwing a temper tantrum like a child. Yes, throwing limbs and stomping my feet and all.

"It's not fair!" I screamed at the sky like a demented banshee, "It's not fair, it's just not _fair_! Why me?! Why do _I_ have to be part of your cruel, sick games?! To be your fucking plaything?! What the hell did I ever do to you, bitch!"

But I didn't know what I was even shouting at. At the time, I didn't even believe in a God. I released a loud sob and fell to my knees, head in my hands. I know I was being dramatic, but as I pointed out earlier, little fourteen-year-old me was so done and too stupid to even use her brain and think through her problems.

The metal digging into my neck slowly pulled away, and I was freely able to look around. Glancing behind me, I sniffed through my congested nose miserably at what I found.

The kid was shorter than me, surprisingly. He looked young, maybe around ten or so. Like that masked guy earlier, he had silvery-white hair that spiked around his face, and bright, red eyes (is that even possible) that seemed to darken in the shade. He also wore perhaps the gaudiest pants I've seen, but whatever. I suppose they didn't look _too_ bad on him.

By the way he was looking at me, he was just as surprised as I was for my brief snap of sanity. Was he the one who held me at knife-point? A child? He already didn't look like much...

"You're just a woman," I managed to translate from him.

I snorted, wiping my tears, "No, I'm...I'm a tortoise."

He didn't believe me. Not that I blamed him. I wanted to use unicorn instead of tortoise, but I couldn't remember the Japanese word for it so tortoise would have to do.

"You're a woman," he insisted, "You spoke in a strange tongue."

"And you're a child, and I speak English."

His eyes sharpened, chest puffing out in pride (which looked pretty funny to me, because his eyes looked so serious for a child's), "No, I'm a man."

_Uh-huh_.

I finally looked around. It was a clearing surrounded by towering trees. I couldn't find anything distinct about the area, but I did hear the sound of moving water nearby. It also smelled really clean and nice. It was very calming. I come to learn later that such clean air and surroundings were a sort of trademark for the Warring States Era (other than, you know, the Warring States themselves).

"How did a woman sneak up on me? Shouldn't you be back with your clan?" I heard the kid cut in from behind my thoughts.

I didn't catch the last word he said, but I got the gist of his sentence. I wanted to laugh, not in a sense of humor, but morso in the irony. I didn't have a family. I _didn't_ have a place to go back to.

Also, that's hella sexist, kiddo.

I ignored his inquiries and wiped my puffy eyes for a final time, "What's your name?"

He made his tiny chest puff out more in pride as he said, "I am Senju Tobirama, son of the honorable Clan Head, Senju Butsuma."

Ah. So he was just an entitled brat. Gotcha.

"What are you...for here? Senju-san?" my grammar was clumpy at best, but it got the point across. I think.

The kid looked offended for a moment. Was I supposed to address him as Sama?

"What am _I_ doing here? What about you-" he paused, eyes going wide. And then, he spat something out under his breath, flipping around away from me. He looked like he was looking for something, and I was partially offended at his obvious dismissal of me. Like, you can't just threaten to stab someone and then ignore them!

"What is it?" I asked, getting to my feet.

"I was supposed to be following my brother, but it appears I've lost him," Senju growled.

"Hm? Brother?" I of course butt in because I'm nosy. "Why?"

His eyes narrowed, "It is none of your business. Go home, woman."

And then, as if obeying his will, the shifts took me away. Probably gave him quite the shock. Back then, the shifts weren't as sporadic and didn't last half as long as they do now, and I was usually back home in less than a week. That time, I couldn't have been gone for more than an hour. I was dropped in the dark, on the side of some highway somewhere. Only the moon, high up in the sky, provided a source of light. I had no idea where I was.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself. Then, I approached the road and stuck out my thumb.

All that was important because, well...you already know why, no matter how absurd and convenient it is. I'll cross that bridge and explain in further detail when I get to it.

Shortly after that, I was released from that woman's care for stealing her credit card and refusing to tell her where I hid it (not that she would have believed me if I did tell her where it ended up). I was shortly placed inside another home which surprisingly wasn't bad at all. It was run by two loving parents, Mark and Linda, and their three kids. They were very nice and tried their absolute best to make things work out for us.

I continued to feel incredibly bad for shifting out on them so many times for the rest of that year. Whether they saw me only as an older child who needed fixing or not, they still did everything they did out of love, but in the end I proved too much for them to handle. I hope afterward they adopted some other, less problematic child who desperately needed a place to call home as much as I did.

There are so, so many things that happened the year of my fifteenth birthday that I believe saved me. I completely learned to speak Japanese, I made a new important friend, then another, and kept them after a long cycle of losing them, and for once I felt better.

I found myself in a plethora of new and familiar places, but most of my time was spent within the Land of Fire, drifting around within different time periods. There was this new country called the Land of Spring (that I could have sworn was called something else) that I visited a couple of times, although nothing really happened. I also discovered a country called the Land of Iron that was strangely absent of Ninja, but most of the people there seemed friendly, if not overly superstitious. Both places looked different and were much colder and drier compared to the Fire country's wetter climate. For two weeks in a row I was also continuously rained on in a newer Settlement called Ame, and I guess that was fun. It was memorable because I was wet, miserable, and unprepared. It was also the first time my Shifts had lasted that long.

It was unfortunately after that year that my time spent in the Warring States Era continued to lessen, and one day just...stopped altogether. Of course, there was a reason for this, but I'll get to that later. It wasn't like I saw that Tobirama kid too often anyway (although I did see him a lot), but I couldn't help but miss the clean air and all those people (warring clans that lived for violence and war) I had the pleasure of meeting. War had a way of turning the most docile of souls into blood-thirsty monsters, but I've met a few that came out of it not just different, but almost thoughtful and reverent.

My final shift of that year, after falling asleep at a bus stop in December, took me to a partially destroyed (Forest? Mountainside?) Wasteland in the middle of nowhere, where I could easily tell a nasty battle had taken place.

I'll save you most of the exposition. I immediately woke up when my back hit the ground, which confused me immensely as I sat up in a completely different place. What my drowsy eyes immediately laid on was the dismembered corpse at my feet and the clearing filled with broken, cratered ground and bodies. I couldn't tell you where they specifically were from, or if they were even part of the same village, as all the wreckage and blood made it impossible to tell. They were still dead, something they all had in common. It was unsettling how used to blood I was, as it was the bodies that really got to me at the time.

I scrambled to stand up, eyes darting across the land in front of me as I struggled not to vomit.

Far off but still way to close, a girl a little younger than me and a tall man next to her stood in the carnage, both of their blacked-out eyes looking at me in clear confusion. I certainly hadn't been there before.

I certainly wished I wasn't there either, because I'm pretty sure those two were the ones who killed all these people.

My body shook with the buzz of adrenaline, my strong flight response fighting to kick in. In the crucial moment that I knew could possibly lead to my death, I floundered about and spouted the first thing that came into my mind.

"Your cow-print pants are stupid."

And I somehow shifted away in time before I could catch his offended look–

"Oh thank the stars," I slumped forward in my relief.

–But right on top of a giant-ass statue.

The pasty-looking, scarred up guy, who just so happened to be there as well, looked down at my spot next to him in surprise.

"Oh," he said, staring at me.

I stared at him right back. Because he looked strange.

And then he lunged, seemingly unprovoked.

I screeched, stumbling backward to avoid his grip. My feet touched nothing behind me and I was free-falling before I even realized what was going on.

And that's how I landed on top of someone's parked car. I adorned it with Holiday Inn's special continental breakfast a moment later. Suffice to say, I was awake now, and would remain so for the next few days.

Now, you must have put a few context clues together after that; a giant statue, the weird guy, those ninja that worked and died together trying to defeat that girl and cow-man...

It was the end of the world, although I didn't know it. I do now though.

But that was only the beginning. Flash forward a few more years, and at the age of nineteen, things finally started to spiral out of control. Was it planned? A huge coincidence of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? I...actually have no idea. I like to think a part of it was, because then I'd finally have someone to blame and be angry at.

June twenty-seventh, living in my small apartment based inside a city in New York. Watering a tiny cactus somehow went very wrong very fast. This is where I'll begin.

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**Hi there**

**it's me again. I promise I wont use author notes often but like what characters do you wanna see more often in this story? Because like I have the plot but I also have a lot of stuff in between points that I have no idea what to do with or squeeze in**

**anyway, you dont have to comment or anything, you're allowed to just lurk and read like the grubby anime nerd you are, but uuuuuuuuh reviews and follows inspire me and keep me confident enough to write because I'm literally a child who preens for affection and acceptance**

**k bye :)**

**(Ps I wrote this prologue a long time ago so it's a bit choppy and bad sorry about that)**


	2. One, Children With Sharp Objects

**One; Children with Sharp Objects**

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There had been plenty of times in my life where I had popped up in places I probably shouldn't have been. For example, I landed in the middle of a campsite one night when I was fifteen or something. The group of ninja were not impressed with my magic tricks I attempted to distract them with, but I luckily disappeared in time before one of them could actually stab me. Another time, I was returning from Ninjaland after a long month of camping out in the woods somewhere and landed on a table at a cafe I worked at, completely covered in dirt and other unmentionables. They had already given me the pink slip for work abandonment, and were _not_ happy to see me ruining their reputation so soon afterward. I gave them the usual excuses; I went camping by myself but got lost and only just now found my way back to the city.

I was banned very quickly afterward. Their coffee sucked anyway.

Point is, I've gotten over a decades worth of experience dealing with these kinds of things. With my strange...ahem, "affliction", I've come to unconsciously and purposefully prepare for these sorts of scenarios.

Found yourself stuck in a random village plagued with constant downpour? The forecast was completely sunny back at home, but I brought an umbrella with me to work just in case! It's summertime, but I also bought the ugliest coat I could find from the thrift store so I could fit in well enough if I got too cold.

Had a job interview before being plunged down a rocky mountainside? I always keep my hiking boots inside my backpack! Hiking in those is so much easier than in high heels.

Popped in at some kid's birthday party? Yep, I'm totally his second cousin. Long-time no see, cuz!

As such is my life, I always try to keep my old, worn-out backpack (appropriately named as my "In Case I Shift to Ninjaland" backpack) on me. I mostly do it to stave off fear and paranoia, but my mind always likes to remind me that it only serves to give me a false sense of security. I try not to think about it too much.

Anyway, you never know what could happen when it comes to spontaneous teleportation! The only thing I truly wasn't prepared for were the road signs and names, because of the daunting fact that I still actually _do not know how to read. _Things still tend to turn out alright, however. There's no such thing as being overly prepared in my opinion, especially since I was in constant danger with so many things to potentially go wrong. I was ready to sucker punch anything life threw my way, no matter which world!

...Or so I thought. Nearly sixteen years' worth of shifting between realities made me prepared for anything, right? Apparently, the answer was no, because now I have a ten-year-old ninja standing in my apartment and I have no clue how she got there or how to get rid of her.

Let's rewind a bit.

* * *

"Hello-o, gentle beauties!" I said adoringly to the three in front of me.

They did not reply, for they were merely plants. I still clearly felt their affection for me though.

Sherry, a beautiful green cactus with a red flower blooming from her head, sat in a small, painted pot that rested on my kitchen table. Next to her was Jessica, another green cactus that was just as small as her that donned smaller, numerous thorns rather than flowers. In the far corner sunbathing was Oscar, a leafy plant that I honestly had no idea what he was called. He was still pretty though.

"Great! I'm so glad you're comfortable here. Anything for my wonderful guests~"

They said nothing.

I was recently asked by a kinda–sorta friend of mine (? we've known each other since highschool and get along well enough) to plant sit for her while she was visiting her family out in the Philippines. The cactus were well enough, needing only to water them once every two weeks, but I was a bit concerned for the guy that needed watering once a week because of how often I was gone. She said she'd pay me, so I _reeeeeally _wanted to keep them alive. I love plants and animals a lot, don't get me wrong, but there was a reason nothing alive other than me was living in my apartment.

I was watering them now in preparation of me accidentally leaving for a long period of time. It was a bit early, but as long as I didn't over-water them later it would be fine.

Humming some song I heard on MTV that morning, I picked up Jessica. In my other hand I held a plastic cup of water (depicting Lego Batman in all his glory) in my other hand–

"Ouch!"

Jessica pricked me, my thumb landing wrong on one of her spikes. Yikes.

"Rude."

And then I was somewhere else.

In a snap, I was out of my kitchen and somewhere else entirely. I was in Ninjaland...still holding a half empty cup of water and a tiny cactus.

This is why I call this phenomenon "Shifting". I'm smoothly transitioning from one location to a new one, like a fish being professionally transported into a new tank. It's abrupt and alright, but the plastic toys and chlorinated water isn't the natural lake I grew up in.

Or, uh, like a person teleporting into another world that isn't theirs. That's probably a more appropriate comparison.

Anyway, I shifted. I also accidentally brought Jessica with me.

I took a moment to look around. One thing that stood out to me was the area being surrounded by trees that shaded the whole clearing from the sun. They were easily recognizable, and a telling feature to help me guess where I was; famed Hashirama trees, so I must be somewhere within the Land of Fire. That's always good to know, they were the friendliest village from what I've learned.

_Clank!_

Wait, what's that sound?

A whistle, followed by a deep _thump _of something hitting the ground.

Oh, shoot. That was metal hitting things.

Years of learned survival instincts kicked in, and I ducked into a nearby bush as fast as I could. I heard and felt more than saw the air above me whistle once more and nip at my hair, and I didn't even _want _to know what was thrown at me.

I was in a dangerous area, I was getting shaky with adrenaline, It was getting a little harder to breathe, and I don't_ freaking have my backpack!_

I didn't dare make a sound. Instead, I ditched the cup and placed Jessica in my lap, hands over my neck. Not that it'd do much, but safety first! I hesitantly looked up behind me, my back facing the clearing, and had my suspicions were confirmed.

Baby ninjas.

They were fighting each–wait, not each other, they were working together against a common enemy. A bunch of bigger, meaner looking ninja. One of them appeared to already be dead. None of them seemed to notice me yet.

I cringed. I forget they teach children to kill sometimes. How old were they?

The three mini-ninjas each bore their village's symbol, a swirly leaf carved into their metal ninjabands they always seemed to wear around here. They were from the Leaf Village, obviously. It was different from the ones the other five wore, which I think kinda looked like two, upside-down shot glasses. What village was that again? Who the hell decided that would be a good symbol?

One of the bigger guys shouted something, hands swiftly forming symbols. The world around us shook, and the floor beneath them crumbled and reformed into rather lethal-looking spikes that pierced the air from the ground. One of those neat ninja tricks, I'll bet.

But _ooooh, _that grey-haired kid did a flip over all those and slapped the dude over the head with his cool-looking Tanto.

The girl, a small brunette with purple rectangles on her face, was making an effort to stand back from the two's fight, I could tell. But with that one boy flipping away, it left an opening for a couple more of those shot-glass ninja to gang up on her.

I held my breath as the third kid of their group, a cutie with orange goggles, hopped in front of her and shouted something probably meant to make him seem more heroic.

This isn't right. Wasn't there a fourth one? Like, a mentor or something? Where were they? Don't tell me they left these kids to fend for themselves! They're, like, _ten!_

I squeaked and ducked with my hands over my face as the one kid with goggles on his head suddenly stepped forward and released _hell itself _on the two ninja in form of _giant flaming ball of death._

Damn. That's hardcore, but I'm wondering exactly _how_ that kid's face isn't burnt off. Hell, I felt the heat even from where _I_ was! Ninja magic, I guess.

The one closest to the kid wasn't so lucky though. He looked more crispy than my neighbor's taxidermied chihuahua after their July Fourth party went totally wrong (They say they still haven't found where Dan's Old Tap-Dancing shoes went). Despite the age difference, these ninja didn't seem any more skilled than those kids were.

"Take that, Iwa trash!" Goggles shouted brazenly, and my inner detective perked up at the newly provided information. They were fighting _Iwa-nin! _No freaking duh, those weren't shot glasses, those were rocks!

I can be such an _idiot _sometimes!It hasn't been that long since I last went there, I should have known!

...Speaking of Iwa-nin and idiots, wasn't there a fourth one I wasn't accounting for?

Of course right when I realized that, the dude pops out of the ground _right in front bush_ like a freaky, oversized groundhog.

I screeched through my hands in my surprise. The ninja flipped around to stare at me, an equally bewildered look shot my way. I didn't like that, so I chucked Jessica at his face in defense.

The guy screamed as the cactus pierced his skin (how did he not dodge that?) and stumbled back into the clearing. I ducked down further into my hiding spot, shaking as the Iwa-nin clutched Jessica in his fist and threw her back on my direction. He missed me by a couple feet.

And then Grey Spikes came in and stabbed the poor dude in the back, followed by the throat. He was _so freaking close to me, _the blood nearly splashed my shoes. I'm surprised I haven't been found out yet, I know for a fact that I'm not any wiser or stronger in comparison to a shinobi.

Before I knew it, the fight was over and I could finally breathe again. I sat up straighter and watched on, my adrenaline still leaving me with a pleasant buzz. It'd probably be best to remain over here from those three, for my own safety. I sure hope I'll shift soon, I've had enough action for the day...

"Is anyone hurt?" Rectangle Girl asked, looking between her two partners. Goggles shook his head rapidly.

"I'm fine! You saw me get those guys, right?!" he asked her earnestly. She awarded him with a distracted smile as she got on her knees and dug through her pack on the ground.

"No. You?" Grey Spikes replied. She said no as she brought out a roll of bandages anyway. "Good. Now, we just need to clean up any traces of–"

"Bakakashi!" Goggles interrupted, "Did you see me? I killed two of those guys by myself! _Two!_"

I frowned. Bragging about killing someone...

"And I killed the rest," Bakakashi (I like that much better than Grey Spikes) deadpanned, "Your point?"

Sensing the eve of an incoming argument, Rectangle girl suddenly said, "Shouldn't we inform Minato-sensei of our end of the mission?"

My inner detective crawled out again, informing me that I did, in fact, already recognise that name the girl mentioned. I'd be crazy not to, actually. This Minato guy was a feared, formidable Shinobi during his day, and very well known pretty much everywhere I went when I shifted anywhere past the Second Shinobi War. Seeing as I shift closer to Konoha nowadays, I've mostly ever seen people idolize him like one would a celebrity. Nobody becomes Hokage and gets their head carved into stone for no reason.

I'm also pretty sure he died young, which is really too bad. It must be very cool to have such a powerful figure be your teacher, they could learn a lot from him. Now, if only the guy would stop _leaving children alone in the middle of a battlefield!_

Rectangle Girl's intervention seemed to work. Bakakashi pulled away from the disagreement despite Goggles still glaring at him and did a few swift hand motions. In seconds, a poof of smoke revealed–

_Oh my goodness? A tiny pug? God bless!_

"Pakkun, find sensei and report success on our end. Awaiting confirmation before proceeding."

What even was their–_omg it nodded at him like it understood what his master was saying!–_What even was their mission? They just kinda killed some guys...

The dog promptly disappeared, much to my disappointment.

"How did you even get a summon so soon?! I bet mine will be way cooler!" Goggles goaded the other boy.

I don't know, Goggles...although my knowledge is limited, dogs are pretty cool, if not strange, to have as a ninja Summon. I'm not sure what creature would top that. Sharks, maybe? Sharks are cool. This is disregarding my obvious bias towards dogs over cats, of course, and sharks are an automatic one-hundred in my book. But how would that even work out?

Bakakashi gave him the stink eye, but I kinda understood why. Goggles was loud and whiny, and it was getting a little annoying. "I inherited it when I made Chunin, dumbass. I introduced the team to them before we left, remember?"

Rectangle girl spoke up before either could speak more, holding up a bunch of bandages. "Is anyone bleeding? Any clothes I need to mend?"

Goggles attention was diverted (for now, as is the trend I've noticed), and he seemed to merrily skip his way over to her. "I'm not sure because of all the adrenaline, can you check for me?"

Bakakashi rolled his eyes (again), "You're fine."

The other glared at him as that girl started checking him over, "You don't know that."

That Bakakashi was pretty expressive with his eyes only, because I can feel his hatred and frustration through the piercing glare he gave his teammate.

Any confrontation was once again interrupted as another poof of smoke popped into the clearing, and–

_Omg it's the pug again! Praise be!_

–"Your message was received. Mission is completed from his end. You've been requested to rendezvous back at base as planned," he said.

_IT CAN TALK?! SUMMONS CAN DO THAT?! He's so formal too!_

(I easily resisted the urge to squeal, because I am a grown woman.)

"Very good, Pakkun," Bakakashi said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out–a dog treat! He was giving little Pakkun a dog treat!

_aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAH–_

"Where do you think Sensei went, anyway?" asked Goggles as once the pug disappeared (sigh). He had some gauze around his left forearm that wasn't there before, so I guess he was hurt afterall? Or maybe it was like a child putting a bandaid on a bruise to make them feel better.

The other boy rolled his eyes, "He had his own part in the mission, remember? You're just a Genin, don't question things that aren't your business, idiot."

Yikes. Bakakashi is one stuck-up child. This is the second time he used the word "remember" along with an insult in obvious reference to his superiority. And he rolled his eyes again for like the fifth time. I bet he's a try-hard stickler who needs to cool his jets.

"Hey! Just because you're Chunin doesn't mean you can keep talking down at me like that!"

An immediate argument broke out between the two of them. I wasn't sure if I should be afraid or not. On one hand, they were only Genin, which I think is like the lowest rank. On the other, they were _Genin._ A ninja is still a ninja, however childish in the way they were acting at the moment. Not only that, these kids took down grown _adults. _I shouldn't mess with them and get myself killed.

But at the same time, it was kind of fun to watch.

"Hello?" a feminine voice interrupted, right above my hiding place.

I froze. I forgot about the third one, I was distracted.

I slowly looked up from my observation spot in the bush and met eyes with a cute-looking girl with the most random but adorable purple rectangles on her face. Rectangle Girl found me.

Uh-oh. I've been compromised. Time to abort and BS my way out.

"Oh, um. Hi?"

And then a form from behind her shot out and attached itself to my arm. Before I could do anything, I was dragged into the clearing they sat in, and was pushed onto my knees. Unfortunately, the bite of metal against my back was actually a familiar one, and I froze pin-straight with my hands up.

I nervously swallowed as I appraised the new situation I was in. I was at the complete mercy of a bunch of angry ten-year-olds, who also happened to be ninjas. Wonderful.

My odds didn't look so good. No doubt, those boys were offended and on edge over the fact that I was potentially sneaking around them without their notice. I was hiding in the bushes, observing them as they argued, and possibly trying to absorb as much information as I could before reporting to some higher up. I was close to their medic and easily could have taken her out, not to mention that they have no idea how long I've been around.

Haha, yeah, they totally weren't suspicious of me. I mean, they haven't killed me yet, so I'm not completely in hot water, right?

"Speak," Bakakashi commanded, suddenly not as much in a good mood as before. The argument with his teammate was forgotten, and I officially had all three's attention.

"...What was that?" I brilliantly asked. It sounded stupid, but I actually heard what he said and was just trying to somehow buy time. The problem is, I wasn't sure what I could say to do that, so I guess now I'm trying to annoy him.

...Which is still stupid, now that I think about it. But why not. He was easy to annoy.

But he clearly didn't like this. In fact, nobody did, so now I don't either.

"Don't play coy with us!" Goggles shouted, probably to sound cooler. The blade at my back dug in deeper and I tried not to cringe, because I didn't want to accidentally cut myself.

"Okay, okay!" I said to try and appease them, " I know what this looks like, but I swear I wasn't trying anything!"

"Oh really?" Bakakashi growled behind me, and I could start to feel myself sweat. This made me nervous.

"Uh, yeah really! I'm not a ninja, I just happened to be nearby!"

He scoffed, but then Rectangle suddenly protested.

"Stop it! I watched that Iwa-nin attack her earlier! I want to make sure she's okay!"

"Yes! Thank you little ninja girl!" I said out loud. There was another growl and–_Ouch!_ The brat yanked on my hair! That's just cruel!

"She could be a spy," Bakakashi denied, and some part of me found that hysterical because I was in _no way_ careful or subtle when it came to stealth, and I was quite the talker when it came to stressful situations. Good at lying or not, I'd still make a terrible spy. "She could have been trying to ambush us."

"If she was an enemy, then why didn't she just attack us earlier? And who attacks their own squad members?!"

Very good points, child! Ten and a half points to Gryffindor! I've decided I like Rectangle Girl!

"Well...she doesn't look like a ninja..." Goggles finally decided, taking Rectangle Girl's side.

"But she could be in disguise," Bakakashi's eyes narrowed, "What civilian would be this close to the war front?"

"War?" I repeated to myself. There was another war? How many does that make this time? This has got to be number three, unless the Second Shinobi War lasted a long time. Or maybe I'm miscalculating the time period? No, I could have sworn they mentioned Iwa. Their enemies were Kiri (or was it Kumo?) last I checked. Maybe my knowledge regarding the war is completely wrong? Or maybe something dramatic changed the direction the war took. But I was there, even if for a short while, I should be able to _know_ when–

"Are you even listening to me, or are you just stupid?" I assume he was asking me this question.

"Both, I failed Geometry," I distractedly replied. He didn't expect that, and looked offended.

Think, damn it...!

Okay. These kids are the famed Yellow Flash's students, Namikaze Minato. He became famous in the Second Shinobi war for his swift kills, deadly techniques, and body-count rising into the triple digits. The price for his head must no doubt be _enormous _in places like Lightning country. I can easily assume that _this _was the war he became so well known for.

However, never had there been mentioned at the time a team, one who he raised and led himself. I don't know much about what's going on in the future–I've only recently started shifting past the Second Shinobi War more often, thankfully alive and in one piece–but as far as I'm concerned, Namikaze-San had always been a one-man band. He could have just been trying to keep such information under wraps for his student's safety, but when would he have time for lower-ranked missions if he was so busy fighting on the front lines and making a name for himself?

With the information I do have, I can only assume that I must be further in the future than realized; one where the war finally ended, only to birth a new one soon after.

If there was another war going on right now, the tension left behind from the second war must have finally snapped. What happened? Who struck first? Did some nations ally together to take the other out? Who is winning so far? Was anyone important assassinated? I hope it wasn't anyone in Konoha, they're my favorite.

I groaned out loud at my own ignorance. I had no information to form any theories regarding the war, but I probably should have known about this sooner considering I could literally _time travel. _This is ridiculous! Can't we just last _one _century without somebody getting mad at someone else?! This is why we can't have nice things, like _peace!_

A raised voice filled with accusation, obviously shade thrown in my direction, cut back into my thought process. The kiddos, especially that Bakakashi, were getting harder to ignore.

"She's clearly an enemy ninja trying to fool us into lowering our guard," Bakakashi's eyes narrowed, and I scoffed at his assumption.

"I'm not a ninja, I'm a civilian who just so happened to pop in!" I defended. Poorly. I didn't feel like explaining myself. I was in a terrible mood after my realization that Ninjaland was yet again _at war with each other. _For the _third time!_

"Then why are you hiding your chakra?" the grey-haired brat's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"...Chakra?" I asked innocently. He didn't like that, if his glare was anything to go by.

In my defense, I've never been too eager to learn about Ninjaland other than its confusing, convoluted history. It's just that everytime I come here_, something _goes wrong and tries to kill me. It seems to have a modo similar to the saying, _"it's a dog-eat-dog_ _world"_, and the people who live here swear by it_. _All life is fair game. I'm just trying my best to not die so young, and I actually have very littleideawhat chakra is, other than it being something only ninjas use. It had never mattered to me because I've never considered becoming a ninja (or kunoichi?) before.

Although, my shifting always seemed to have the perfect timing of sending me away right when I'm faced with the threat of death. Hmmm, I should test that sometime...

"Here," the adorable girl who helped me earlier broke our tense silence, "let me check you over. Did you receive any harm from the crossfire, miss?"

The girl grabbed my arm, and the brat made a noise of protest. I was about to answer when the world suddenly went blurry again, and I shifted away.

...

Or, as I've just recently found out, _we _shifted away.

I brought this girl with me.

I have officially taken her from her world and plopped her in mine. I have _never _shifted with another person before, and I have _definitely _never kidnapped a child. So to be fair, this was new for both of us.

_Uh oh._

Things could have been a lot worse, I guess. We could have popped up in some stranger's kitchen instead of my living room. That wouldn't have been so great.

The girl didn't seem to have the same thought process however. Gone was the sweet girl who tried to convince her teammate not to stab me. This new version of her was slightly hunched over with both hands out in front of her already, body turned towards me but eyes scanning the rest of the room's layout. Paranoid, watchful, and ready to strike.

Okay, so maybe she's a bit more than a medic. She is a ninja, afterall, no matter how small. Carefully, I took a step forward, opening my mouth to speak.

And then she almost punched me in the face. Wonderful. I'm taking two steps back now...

"Where am I?!" she spat out, "Where have you taken me?!"

Of course, that was a very reasonable question. This poor girl must be _kicking_ herself for not listening to her teammate and letting him stab me. But how could I even begin to answer that? The only answer I had would be completely disregarded by any sane person who heard it!

_"Yeah, don't panic, but I accidentally teleported you along with me to my home planet! You're now in a completely different universe from the one you're used to, and you have no way of ever returning unless it's with my help. But it's okay, I'm totally not a bad guy, I'm just not sure how to help you yet!"_

lol nope. The likelihood of me surviving till the end of the day would decrease dramatically if I said that. A baby ninja is still a ninja, after all.

"Look," I started out, slowly raising my hands in a peaceful gesture, "I honestly have _no idea _how you got here."

Lies. Kinda. I just don't know how I brought you with me is all.

"But I know where we are, and I can probably figure out how to help you get home if we just _stay calm_ and cooperate with each other."

Okay, maybe my speech could help us break the ice a bit–oH STARS THE CHILD HAS A KNIFE–

"That doesn't answer my question!" the adora–_menacing _child said, raising her oddly shaped ninja knife, a kunai with what looked to be a tag wrapped around the hilt, a bit closer to my face. Her fist was shaking however, the weapon slightly trembling in my direction. Shouldn't a ninja have more than just a kenai in their possession?

And then I remembered we left her bag behind. Oops. At least she kept a weapon on her.

"How can I trust you? How do I know you weren't sent from Iwa meant to separate me from my team?"

She was frightened, that much I could tell. I would be too. Hell, I really _was, _for the longest time.

...On a side note, _oooooh my goooosh,_ she's so adorable! But she scares me so much. She's cute in like a, "_Look At How Small But Deadly I Am! I'll Cut You!"_ sort way. Like a bear cub, or one of those Amazonian Poison Dart Frogs. Both have the potential to kill you, and it's _adorable!_

Wait, did she say Iwa? Right, the war! Iwa must be their primary enemy at the moment!

"I swear, I'm not involved with any group. In fact, I'm not even a ninja! I'm just a civilian woman trying to live her normal, civilian life," I tried to explain, praying she was a stab–later–ask–first kinda gal. My normal life comment was only partially true however, because shifting kinda gets in the way of living normally. Right now, I just wanted to get out of this situation without a few extra holes in me. Getting shanked by a frightened tween was not on my to–do list.

"Then-Then _how _did you take me? How am I here?!" her voice trembled, and I frowned.

"I'm...not too keen on the details?" I winced. I probably shouldn't say things like that to a frightened child, "But I _swear_ I can figure this out. I promise, what I did was _not _intentional, and I mean no harm. Seriously."

At her narrowed gaze, I added a quick, "I'm honestly just as confused as you are."

A small moment, and the girl slowly lowered her weapon. I tried not to outwardly show my relief. I didn't want to accidentally trigger anything and make her even more high-strung. That isn't my goal here.

Still, the girl did not relax, body still poised to run at a moment's notice. Did they seriously train ninja this young? She's so small. And cute. But _deadly._ But so _cute! _And probably so easily able to suplex me into the sun! But the fact that she could made her seem even _cuter! _You know, in some kinda, weirdly morbid way? Like, do you even get what I'm saying, or am I crazy? I mean I _could_ be crazy, but do I still somehow make sense? Just _look at her._

I hesitantly smiled, relaxing my posture. This is what I'm supposed to do with spooked animals, right? She could probably smell fear or something. Yeah.

"Alright. Um. My name's Emma. What's yours?"

That's a good start, right?

The girl bit her lip, eyes still roaming the room. She did thankfully answer, which I'll definitely take as a good sign.

"Nohara Rin."

I nodded, trying to seem a bit more friendly around this strange ninja child, _Nohara_, and chirped back, "Nice to meet you, Nohara!"

She gave me a weird look, but finally dropped her stance. Eh, I can't have it all, I guess. At least she can't smell fear, because I'm still definitely afraid she'll stab me when I turn my back or something like that.

"This doesn't explain how I'm somewhere else," Nohara muttered, looking much more vulnerable and flighty than before. I suppose this is a good thing for me, but it still didn't sit well how this kid was rather trusting for a ninja. And cute despite the circumstances. Why let this girl fight in a war? Who let _any _of these kids fight in a war?

"I know," I reassured, "we can...probably work together to figure that out though. Would you like some tea? I know I do."

Unprompted, I walked away from the living room and into my tiled area that I considered the "kitchen" (they were basically the same room), and grabbed a recently rinsed out kettle from the sink.

I readied the kettle, filling it with water. I turned on my gas oven and took a peek behind me. Nohara had nervously followed behind me and settled at my dining room table, observing Sherry in all her glory. She jumped when I spoke.

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Oh! Jasmine?"

"Good choice!" it wasn't my favorite, but I certainly didn't hate it.

I placed the kettle on the burner and withdrew to the table. I planted my butt on a chair, heaving a long sigh as the adrenaline finally seeped out of me. I began shaking, but ignored it. I hoped it wouldn't set her off.

"So, Nohara-san," I started off.

"Rin, please." she sat up straighter in her chair, offering me a small smile.

_Oddly informal. _It's probably because I gave her my first name only.I smiled at her and nodded.

"Rin-san. No doubt you're...confused."

Rin slowly nodded, and it was because of practice that I was able to hold back my cringe. No-freaking-duh she's confused! We _literally _just went over that!

"Right. So I, uh..." I trailed off, frowning. Goodness, this is so awkward. Where do I even start? Would explaining anything even help? I don't even _want _to explain anything!

"...Perhaps start with how I'm here?" Rin suggested.

_I would love to but that's also confusing and hard to explain. _Not to mention that I usually try to avoid explaining it in the first place. I took a deep, shaky breath and gathered my thoughts together. Maybe the basics would do?

I awkwardly rubbed my hands together, "Alright, you know how I was just...there? A civilian at a _war front_?"

Her gaze narrowed as she slowly nodded. I tried not to think too much into it. It probably meant nothing.

"And then we're suddenly not there? And I accidentally took you with me?"

Oh my gosh, what am I saying. Why is this so hard?

The scary ten-year-old gave me a blank look. Yeah, I get it. I'm good at beating around the bush, please allow me to go at my own pace.

"Right. Uh, that happened because..." I sighed, pausing for a moment. It was hard to think with my heart still beating in my ears. "I have this...condition. An ability nobody else has."

Rin perked up, "Oh, like a Kekkei Genkai?"

Haha, a what?

I must have pulled a face, because a second later she flushed and looked embarrassed. "Maybe not?"

"No, no," I immediately go to reassure her, because nobody should be embarrassed for my sake. I could be embarrassing enough for the both of us if I tried hard enough. If anything, I was glad for a change in topic, "I just have no idea what that is."

"Really?" she seemed surprised.

"Yeah. Is that common knowledge where your from?" because I certainly don't hear it in gossip–a Kekkei Genkai–around the streets.

"Yes," Rin said, but then seemed to reconsider. "Actually, maybe not to civilians."

Let alone someone from another world, but that was left unsaid. Mostly because she didn't know about that part yet.

"Right. Then is this some ninja ability? Because I'm not a ninja."

"Ah!" Rin said, and she suddenly grew more interested in the conversation. "No, Kekkei Genkais are genetic. Typically within Shinobi families, but new bloodlines with new abilities are known to appear from time to time."

"Oh." weird. Just another difference between my world and Ninjaland, I guess.

"So, I just assumed," Rin went on, "that maybe your ability is actually a Kekkei Genkai. Is it not?"

I raised my eyebrows, appraising the idea in my mind. It would be easy to just call it that and give some form of explanation to my weirdness. Except, I'm not from Ninjaland. I was born in Pennsylvania, inside the United States, and grew up in New York. Literally nobody here is a ninja (unless they're either weirdly obsessed or part of a James Bond film), and there shouldn't be any bloodlines from Ninjaland here on Earth.

As far as I know, I'm the only one of my kind.

"Let's talk about that later," I finally decide. But this meant I had to go back to my original topic. _Damn. _"My ability is...complicated."

Actually, it's pretty straight forward. And strange. But at the same time not really.

"I basically..." I pause, dreading my next sentence. "I basically teleport around and pop up in places I shouldn't be."

Silence.

In my sudden mild panic and nausea, I add, "Not on purpose though."

More silence. It's very loud. And then, together:

"I call it Shift–"

"I'm sorry, what–"

We both suddenly jumped at the shrill whistle that echoed inside the apartment. My heart kickstarted again at the unexpected noise, and my shaking hands renewed their movement with vigor.

"T-The tea's ready!" I nervously laughed, resisting the urge to curse in front of a child. I shakily stood up and opened the cabinet above the sink, pulling out two cups and placing them carefully on the counter.

Rin didn't say anything as I gathered myself together. I grabbed one of the cups and poured what I considered a decent amount of hot water into. I opened another cabinet, a small one above the stove, and grabbed a small container filled to the brim with an assortment of tea. It wasn't my only one, of course, I had a few others lurking around my kitchen. For example, an emergency stash in the closet, a container of what was strictly Green Tea sitting next to the assorted ones (my favorite, unsurprisingly), and an unopened package sitting neatly on top of my refrigerator.

Why so much tea? Because tea is word.

I shuffled around in it for a bit before finding some Jasmine and plopped one bag into one cup before repeating the process with the other. I grabbed them both and hurried to place them back down on the table, because _ouchies that's hot._

"Please, help yourself," I said gesturing, as if I had given her more than just a cup of Jasmine Tea. Rin nodded her head in thanks, but I turned tail before she could actually say anything else.

"Just a moment," my words were polite, "I need to pee."

lol I'm running away from a ten-year-old because I can't face my _feelings–_

I quickly closed the bathroom door behind me and then leaned against it without turning on the lights. I released a huge, long sigh, and it helped relieve the tension stirring in my chest. Why was I being so difficult? It was literally just a talk, one that I owed Rin for throwing her into this mess. Was it the adrenaline from earlier? Maybe, it was probably making me more anxious than necessary. I'm so stupid.

I quickly flicked on the light switch, frustration aimed at myself invading my thoughts. I turned on the faucet and let the cool water seep through my fingers.

_Have you ever told anyone about Shifting before?_

Leaning over, I splashed some water on my face and shivered at its coldness.

Yes, I have told people before. A couple friends. None that I've seen in awhile though...

_...What about more than just a couple people?_

I collected the water once more, clapping it against my face. Some of the liquid accidentally splashed my shirt and soaked my sleeves.

No, I haven't told anybody else, but that shouldn't matter. Nobody would believe me. Besides, I don't have anyone to tell anyway.

_Than maybe that's why it's so difficult. You've never had to tell anyone before._

This didn't have to be so hard. True, it's my secret, but with Rin involved now I feel like I don't have a choice in whether I tell anyone or not. It's not trust issues, it's...it's just that I didn't want to, but now I feel like I have to. That's all. It was dumb of me to accidentally bring her along for the ride, and now she's sitting in my dining room awaiting an explanation that would probably take me forever to explain.

Shouldn't this be more relieving? I've been keeping this to myself for a very long time, after all. It should do me some good to get things out in the open! Why the hell do I feel the need to _freak out so badly–_

Chill out, girl! Just take it slow! If anything, now's the time to make a game plan.

First, tell her a little more about what Shifting is. Shifting is when I randomly appear in different places I hadn't been originally. For example, I could be at home watering my plants, and the next I could be in a field in the middle of nowhere (where a fight may or may not be taking place). Explain to her that this is what happened, except this time I took someone else with me, which has _never _happened before!

I'll tell her, uuuuuuuuh–I'll tell her she's in my home, but not that it's in another world. Shifting will already be a heavy topic to handle, so I doubt telling her I'm from another Universe is going to make her freak out even less.

Reassure her that this totally isn't permanent! If I can shift around from place to place and end up bringing you along, than it's definitely likely I could get you home too! Although if that's the case, I'm gonna have to keep her close at all times. Even then, I still have no idea how long this will take...

So that means this next part is important! I'll have to put some rules in place, one being "No Cool Ninja Stuff"! The last thing I need is for her showing off and garnering extra attention we don't need, leaving me to have to explain the impossible. She can't leave the apartment either, because losing her in this world is probably the worst thing that could happen right now.

I hate to say it, but I probably won't be completely honest with her about everything either. This is not only personal, but also potentially dangerous, and I don't need her thinking she's completely unsafe or screwed over. I still _really _don't want to lie to her however, so meeting halfway between truth and deceit is the best I could do for now.

This certainly helps, because for some reason still I really hate talking about all this. I'm just gonna have to suck it up and pretend I have the confidence of a gay Porn Star attending a Drag Show. Besides, Rin seems like a good girl with a good head on her shoulders, so maybe she won't take it as badly as I think she will.

Pausing for one more moment inside the safety of the bathroom to run through my plan, I hype myself up to simply _act natural_. But as I turned to finally leave and enact my newest try at being normal, a sudden dreadful thought struck me, and I felt the dooming horror curl up my back.

I left Jessica behind.

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**hi! I'm surprised that I've already gotten a couple people following, faving and reviewing! THANK YOOU! :D ****I hope I get more discovered soon. ;w; If anyone has any ideas or anything they wish to see, don't be shy to tell me! You can even PM me!**

**unfortunately, there's gonna have to be some filler first so it'll be a bit before we actually see plot and action, I'm very sorry!**

**PS uuuh I realized while writing that I have a thing with long, drawn-out exposition and that's never fun and I'm so sorry. It works out well with my plans (cougcoughcough) but like my thoughts are literally all over the place and I have work soon and I can't tell which way is up anymore so I'll try not to do that so much**


	3. Two, And Then There Were Two

**Uuuuuh it occurred to me I should put disclaimers and warnings:**

**Yes I own Naruto**

**Anyway this story contains strong language and violence. Yep. Go figure.**

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**Two; And Then There Were Two**

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"I'm going to the, uh, _market_, Rin."

Rin looked up from where her slightly dazed eyes were glued to my laptop screen (I've showed her the wonders of portable technology and cat videos to keep her busy) and asked, "The market?"

It's been an awkward couple days, but like everything else in my life, it can only get worse from here. Rin wasn't a bad roommate at all. In fact, she was neat, polite, and only a little bit awkward.

("You didn't pee," was the first thing I heard upon leaving the bathroom two days ago. Both of us were a little mortified at the admission.)

The talk didn't go as I thought it would go. I expected unadulterated chaos, some mudslinging, and a few more extra holes in my torso than wanted. Instead, Rin was the textbook example of calm. She had gently sipped her tea, gave me a small, thin smile, and then quietly asked me, _"What the fuck?"_

It was strange hearing a curse word from a child, but I figured it was warranted, because I constantly ask myself the same thing.

Other than my Shifting, all I've told her is that she is in my home country, which I also decided to call New York for the sake of simplicity. I've explained (kinda) how technology here differs from technology in her country. I've made her all sorts of new food from recipes she's never heard of, showed off the various nick-nacks in my apartment she had never seen before (apparently the giant antique clock randomly given to me by a neighbor one time was very expensive and uncommon), and have been sure to give her my company and entertainment.

I ended up pleading with her (and bribing her with my excellent cooking and cat videos) to stay indoors when I'm not around. I sincerely hope she doesn't get suspicious of why I've kept her locked up in my apartment and try to break out of it, because I _know _she can do it if she tried. I really don't want to pay for a new door or window, and I especially don't want to leave a little girl I'm responsible for lost and alone in the streets of New York.

I'm just waiting for her to break out and disappear, knowing my luck. What if an officer finds her and misunderstands the situation? What if Rin gets scared and attacks the authorities? What if she's arrested?! She doesn't know how to use a phone! Hell, she can't even speak _English_! It's a disaster waiting to happen!

It's particularly why I haven't left her alone in the apartment for any reason. Since I was the adult who kidnapped the child in the first place (even if on complete accident), I've got to take responsibility and take care of her!

To better convince Rin of her dependence on me to keep her in one spot (which sounds super manipulative, yikes), I've told her more specifically how my shifts worked. Nothing technical, since I myself don't even know that, but I did explain about how I can transfer objects I touched along with me (using poor Jessica as an example–she may be gone, but never forgotten). Through this, we concluded that she needed to stay by me as close as possible so I could bring her with me next time I shift.

Unfortunately, there were a few issues with that already; My shifts being random and appearing without a warning, to name a couple.

I can imagine how stir-crazy and unhappy she might be by now, but at least it's kept her from wandering off. I've already tried my best to make Rin as comfortable as possible, but there was only so much room in my apartment for the two of us to live in, and I just now began to fear that the internet didn't have as many videos of cats as I thought. We've sat down and watched a _lot _of videos to keep her busy, but we're gonna need more at the rate she was watching them.

Just to say, this is all without mentioning that New York is actually located on a separate _planet! _As far as I'm concerned, Rin is worlds (dimensions?) away from her home. But she didn't need to know that.

I nodded, a bit remorseful. "I hate to leave you alone, but I ran out of cheese last night, and I only have half a carton of milk left..."

I trailed off at the thought. I usually try to be frugal with my budget, because not only am I broke, but food has an _expiration date _that I could completely miss when I'm off somewhere else in Ninjaland. Milk was avoided (unless it was for cooking), and I tried to buy things that would last a long time.

I really didn't want to leave Rin alone to go shopping. Logic stands, however, that I am running out of food, and we need that to live. I didn't want to bring Rin with me in case I lost her.

"That's fine," Rin said, eyes slowly drifting back to my laptop screen. It depicted a cat trying to get inside a dryer, emitting small meows that sounded a lot like a bicycle horn. "I'll be here when you get back."

I sure hope so. I'm surprised she didn't ask to come with me, but I'll take what I can get. Perhaps cat videos were more powerful than I thought.

"Alright," I grabbed my backpack from the floor and shrugged it on, grabbing a couple reusable bags hanging on the hook sitting above it, "I'll be back in like, two hours tops. Don't answer the door for anyone, and try not to break anything."

I almost gave her my number, but remembered she didn't have a phone nor could use one. Here's to hoping nothing bad happens?

...Who am I kidding? I would be surprised if nothing was broken or destroyed by the time I got back...

Gosh. I need to chill out. Do I really have so little faith in Rin?

I forced myself not to think about it anymore, and gently shut the door behind me and locked it.

I pass a few people on my way out (we silently agreed not to acknowledge each other), and made my way down the stairs. The weather forecast this morning, as well as the greying clouds outside, told me that it was supposed to rain in a couple hours, at noon. It shouldn't matter, since I brought my umbrella in my backpack with me, but it was good to note for time. I didn't want to walk home in the rain.

The walk to the market wasn't a long one. On that thought, the market also technically wasn't a market? Like, yes it sold stuff and got money, but the way it worked reminded me more of a bunch of different markets crammed together on the same lot. So I guess you could call them a bunch of Outlet Stores that worked together to create one big Supermarket, in a sense? Or would that still be called a plain old Supermarket? It had the usual farmed goods (especially full at this time of year), a store filled with mostly cleaning supplies and the usual household items (very cheap and affordable, I might add), and a fabric and crafts store (not needed, but still fun to have).

I'm getting distracted.

What I mean is, my walk wasn't a long one, and it only lasted about twenty minutes at least. I could technically take the bus, but I didn't want to waste money on a trip I could easily take myself, and I liked the exercise. I was pretty tall growing up, and my last growth spurt left me at a good five foot, seven inches (roughly 170 centimeters). With my metabolism added in with how much I ate as a kid, I grew up with a tall, willowy figure. I didn't have much muscle on me other than on my legs (because hell yeah I've gotten my cardio in by this point, not being able to run fast is a huge no), so walking already made me feel much better and less tense (paranoid?). Exercise did wonders for the body, and I enjoyed it.

Something's wrong with me today. I'm getting so off-track.

I made it to the market at my usual time and casually began walking around. I got my phone out and pulled up a quick list I made this morning after inspecting the fridge last night. It was filled with items I had run out of or needed at the house.

I decided it might be good to get some different clothes for Rin to wear (mine were to big for her), some shampoo because I'm going to run out soon, and of course a carton of milk and some more eggs. It also wouldn't hurt to replenish my Med Kit too. I should buy beef this time, and some tomatoes. I didn't put it on the list, but the thought stood out to me because I was planning to have Rin try a Hamburger Pizza, because apparently she hadn't had something like that before (I was surprised, because she definitely knew what a hamburger was. But she doesn't know what a pizza is? Like, what?). Gosh, how much more expensive would that be? It can't be that bad, right?

It felt strange having to cook for someone else for once.

I decided to round up my veggies and produce first; I wanted the frozen stuff to make it in time to be put in the fridge, so that would be my last stop to make. The vegetables as promised were freshly washed and shipped that morning, the leaves on the celery sticks and carrots damp with moisture. They were fun to touch.

"Let's see here..." I murmured out loud, because I do that. I looked down at my list. "Some romaine...spinach should be next to it over there..."

I frowned, because something felt off, like my mind was trying to tell me something. Did I forget to count something last night?

Lost in my musing, I made a motion to take a couple carrots out of their basket.

"Hey, wh–_It's you!"_

And promptly found myself somewhere else.

_Oh crap I shifted and I didn't bring Rin oh my gosh._

"Hi," I said amiably to the air, because I hadn't spotted anyone yet but definitely heard them. I waved the object in my hand around. "would you like a carrot?"

The next thing I knew, a heavy weight _slammed _into my stomach, knocking me off my feet and sending the carrots flying from my grip. I hissed as my head hit the ground (ouch, was that _concrete?!_), and I was suddenly seeing stars. My backpack was digging uncomfortably into my back, bending it at an awkward angle.

And someone was yelling at me. He didn't want my carrots.

"You're the one that took Rin!"

My sight became less blurry, and I found myself face to very-close face with Goggles, who was sitting on my stomach.

"...What?" I groaned. It was hard to breath with this kid pinning me to the floor, and my vision was very slowly clearing up to reveal my surroundings. Contrary to what I thought, I was laying down on hard-packed dirt, in the middle of some field somewhere. Wooden posts flanked my sides and a stone statue I've observed often enough stood ominously in the distance.

Ah. Konoha, then?

I was roughly shaken, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from saying something potentially self-destructive.

"Don't be stupid, Kakashi and I sawyou take her!" Goggles glared down on me from my stomach, and I suddenly recognized the sharp edge of a weapon wielded against my neck, "We're shinobi of Konoha, lady, don't mess with us!"

Okay, so that makes that _how _many times of having a sharp object pointed at my neck?

I brought my hands up, "Look kid, you completely misunderstand the situation!"

"Does he?" I hear another voice and look up to see–oh _joy_, it was mister angsty himself, _Bakakashi!_

I grit my teeth. This situation wasn't looking to good for me. But have they ever?

"Listen," I start off, "I didn't meanto steal your friend–"

"Kidnap," Bakakashi lightly interjected, "You kidnapped her."

"Not on _purpose!" _I raised my voice indignantly, "It was an accident that she happened to be touching me when I Shifted!"

"Touching you?! You were touching _her_!" Goggles shouted in my face, and I _definitely _didn't think about how wrong that sounded.

"_"Shifted"_," the other muttered to himself.

"How do you accidentally kidnap someone?!"

"She was trying to help! I wouldn't have let her touch me if I knew I would take her!" I defended, and _nooooo that sounds so wrong it's time to cancel thinking–_

"But you still took her, you _criminal!"_

I gaped at him, "_Criminal?! _I ain't no criminal!"

"What ninja kidnaps people?! A scumbag criminal ninja, that's what!"

"I am _not _a ninja!"

"_Enough,_" I looked up past a fuming Goggles to glare at Bakakashi, who seemed to have finally had enough of this conversation, "Let's take her to sensei, Obito."

If thatdidn't sound scarily ominous for the situation, then I'd eat my shirt. It's a good thing I know Namikaze to have fierce, yet polite and lovely reputation, otherwise I wouldn't know to prepare for either a nice, understanding man or an angry dad ready to slit my throat for kidnapping his underaged daughter.

A ninja was a ninja, even if only once. My head throbbed in reminder.

"Right!" _Obito _(strange name, I will remember that) said with renewed conviction. The boy finally retracted his kunai and got off me, dragging me up with him. He was stronger than he looked, his grip remaining firmly on my arm. "Sensei will know what to do with you, kidnapper!"

Bakakashi nodded, "Yes. After that, it's off to Torture and Interrogation."

Obito snickered and I daintily smiled. Haha, I knew what the TI department was, and that was a place I _definitely _didn't want to visit! Distraction time!

_Uuuuuuuh_

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I left my phone in the oven, and I have some cats to herd too, so that'll take awhile," I just blabbed. Both of them looked at me. Like, really stared_. _"so I'm afraid I can't hang out with you this afternoon. Sorry."

"...The _hell _is wrong with you?" Bakakashi finally accused, "What are you even saying?"

"You must be _really stupid, _lady," Obito pointed a finger at me, and for some reason the gesture irked me. I hated when people pointed fingers like that, it gave off a vague sense of _condescension_, and things like that were stupid and annoying.

"See, I thought that too, but then I met you," I snarked. I ignored the snort from other boy. "At least I can keep track of my friends, and you know, keep them?"

I cringed immediately, because _damn _that sounded insensitive and a bit over the line. What did I just sayabout saying things potentially self destructive?! What I said wasn't even true, I've never managed to keep friends before!

Obito agreed, because in reward for my dumb comment, I was punched in the face by a fist I hadn't seen coming, and holy _fuck _did that hurt.

My hands flew to my nose in anguish as arms suddenly wrapped themselves around my middle. I made a weird sound that crossed between an old cat and a dying chain smoker and went to go pry them off.

"Wait!"

And then I almost tumbled off the rooftop to my apartment complex as we shifted.

_Oh no._

Obito _shrieked, _pouncing away the ledge we landed on and putting distance between us.

At least my distraction kinda sorta worked? The results were unsatisfactory however.

"Ohholysage you _took me too!_" he said, voice shrill and increasing in pitch.

_This can't be happening. No way in HELL did I just kidnap a second child._

But I did.

I slowly got up from the concrete parapet and looked around. As dull, grey, and uncomfortable to look at as ever, we were back in my home turf: New York. I felt a twinge of pain in my nose and a tingly sensation to follow. I lifted a hand up to my face and pulled it back to see it smudged with red.

"Owie," I said. The kid gave me a bloody nose. I haven't had one of those in ages, yikes. My nose doesn't feel broken, but it still really hurts. Maybe Rin could check on it for me?

Doing my best to ignore it for now. I turned my attention onto Obito, who was currently hissing at me like a startled goose. Alright...how should I go about this?

"...Hi. Obito, right?"

Good enough.

Obito, much like Rin had at first, stepped back from me some more and glared. He crouched low, like I assume he was taught, except this time he put his fingers crossed together rather than pulling out a kunai.

_Weird, but okay._

"How do you know my name?!" his voice was loud and kinda obnoxious. Then, his eyes narrowed. "How long have you been watching me...?"

I put my hands up, "I wasn't watching you! That Bakakashi kid called you Obito!"

He startled, drawing back some more, "How do you know I call Kakashi that?!"

_Kakashi. _I filed that name away for later and immediately answered, "Because you called him that!"

"When?!"

"_Literally just a second ago!_" this was getting annoying. Taking a deep, calming breath to stave of frustration, I interjected, "We're getting off track."

"_You're _the creep stalking kids!"

_I thought you were shinobi of Konoha? _I so badly wanted to snark back, but decided it wasn't in my best interest. Instead I said, "Look. All of this–me taking Rin, and now you–was a complete accident, and I can explain."

His eyebrows shot up, "What's there to explain, huh?!"

"I can take you to Rin."

There. That's what got him. All at once, Obito arose to his full height and clenched his fists in front of him. I went on, "She knows what's going on and can help explain. You trust her, right? She believed me, even if you don't."

His eyes narrowed, "Really? You'll take me to Rin?"

"Yep! And explain why you're here, too. I promise, I didn't mean to take any of you. There's a lot you don't know."

"Uh-huh," he said. Slowly, he began to unwind, keeping a careful eye on me as I cautiously made my way towards the Fire Escape. "so you'll really take me to Rin?"

"_Yes._"

"Alright. But if _anything _fishy goes on, I'm taking Rin and breaking out of here!"

"Sure, sure." Actually, please don't. "I'm Emma, by the way."

"Uchiha Obito," he sniffed, and I inwardly sighed. Another stuck-up clan kid...I wonder if that Kakashi belonged to one?

I made it to the fire escape and looked down the length of my four-story apartment. At one point, I used to be afraid of heights, but now it's just another thing that doesn't compare to the mountains I've climbed, figuratively and literally.

"Nice to formally meet you," I politely said before explaining, "We just gotta climb down here and reach my window."

This was a normal routine, unfortunately.

"Your window? You mean, you live in this dump?" he asked. I gave him a flat look, because that was _rude. _Sure, it kinda smelled bad because of all the trash, and you couldn't really see the stars at night, and the sound of traffic and the nearby trainyard annoyed me as all hell, but it wasn't _so _bad.

"Hey man, it may not seem like much, but it's home. Please don't throw shade."

Obito hesitantly nodded, "Oh, uh, sorry."

He didn't sound very sorry, but he was fidgeting and looking around the rooftop with these wide eyes and closed off posture. He looked and acted like a nervous child...that, or he was just paranoid. Not that I blamed him.

I grabbed the rings of the ladder and began my descent, the rings slick from the recent rain I could faintly smell in the air. The ladder creaked under my weight, and I felt compelled to reassure my new companion. "Don't worry about its sturdiness. I've used the fire escape a lot, and it's never failed on me before. It's totally safe."

"Can't you just walk down?"

"What?" I asked, because _uuuuuuuh _no I can't walk down? And then I looked up and the kid was standing horizontally on the wall like he was fucking Spiderman.

"...I'm not a ninja, Obito," I said after a pause, because apparently ninja can stick to walls now?

He paused and looked at me, seemingly dumbfounded. "Really?"

"It's only been like what, ten minutes since we've been over this?"

"I thought you were _lying!_ Civilians don't just vanish without a trace!"

"I'm a special case, obviously."

"But, but how?!"

"That'll be explained once we get inside."

I reached the first set if set of stairs and slowly began walking down, because I didn't want to disturb the neighbors again.

"...So you live in this building?" Obito asked, because I guess he didn't appreciate awkward silences like I did.

"Yeah, second floor," I said. I jumped as the stairs suddenly shook violently and I flipped around to find Obito crouched on the landing behind me. "_Please _don't do that! I-I have neighbors, you know!"

I placed a hand on my chest to calm my rapidly beating heart, and this time Obito looked a bit more sheepish as he apologised. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, just be more careful," I waved him off and continued walking. He followed behind me. "people here aren't really used to ninjas."

"Really?" he looked interested, "Where are we?"

"New York," I said simply.

"I've...never heard of it."

"Unsurprising. Oh, we're here!" I stopped before the final window on the right, the lights inside already on for the evening. I felt Obito's curious gaze on my back as I went to toy with the latch. For some reason it didn't want to budge, and it took all my weight piled onto it to get it to release. It cracked open, and I made a triumphant laugh as I pushed it forward.

"Rin, I'm officially a criminal now!" I announced to my apartment when I opened the window (which was actually broken I just found out, yikes. That's a safety concern I should have thought about more. How long has it been like that?).

The astounding confusion I got from her direction almost made my less-than-stellar mood lighter. Almost. The look on her face when she saw Obito enter though is what made it feel better.

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"So let me get this straight," Obito started, and I nodded, "You have weird teleporting powers called Shifting that allow you to move from place to place? And this is nothing like a shunshin?"

I nodded again, because that was right. Dimensional time travel and poofing to and from nearby areas with the use of chakra (as this was just explained to me) were two completely different things, I felt.

"Alright. Using this method, you kidnapped Rin-"

"Accidentally!"

"-accidentally when she grabbed onto you those couple weeks back? And you can't control it?"

I nodded again, because that was also right. I didn't choose to shift, the Shift chose me.

"Weeks?" Rin piped up from her spot at the table.

"Time works differently here than it does there," I supplied for context. For us it had only been about five days-one of those I missed because of my last shift where I happened to bring Obito back with me.

It turns out that after leaving for the market, I had left Rin alone for a whole day. That was actually very strange, because for as long as I've been Shifting, time has always been a straight line here on Earth compared to Ninjaland. If I had been gone for maybe an hour as I had last time, only an hour should have passed when I relocated to the roof afterwards.

What changed?

Anyway, now we were sitting at my dining room table, once again drinking some tea. Unlike last time when I explained to Rin about my fun little quirk, telling Obito was surprisingly much easier to do. I felt better knowing that Rin was around to help explain if needed, but I guess having to explain it a second time wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I mean, nothing went wrong with Rin, so I guess talking to Obito would be just as smooth.

"Alright..." Rin settled, and Obito continued.

"So now, when I attacked you back home, I-"

Rin gaped at his admission, "So that's how you got a bloody nose?!"

"...Y-yes?"

I blatantly stared at her, willing my thoughts to reach her direction. Yes Rin, he attacked me, please defend my honor.

Despite my silent attempt at communication, she didn't say anything more to interrupt Obito's recap as he nervously apologised to me again. Damn.

"So anyway, I triggered one of these Shifts, making you bring me along because I was, uuuuuuuh, making physical contact?" he nervously looked at Rin again, who still didn't look happy.

"...Kinda?" I shrugged, "I'm not really sure what triggers them, I think it happens when I'm put in danger?"

"But how does that work when all I did was touch your shoulder?" Rin countered, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Nope," I assured her, "I wasn't hurt at all actually. Although, that Bakakashi did threaten me..."

Obito made a disgusting noise as he accidentally inhaled the tea he was drinking, which was quickly muted when Rin called out his name in disapproval. She corrected me, "Ignore Obito. His real name is Kakashi, actually."

"Oh, I know, but he's on my Kick List, so I don't care."

"K-Kick List?" Obito hoarsely asked as he regained his breath. He took another sip of his tea to soothe his throat."

"Please don't kick Kakashi-kun, Emma," Rin groaned, but I ignored her.

"It's the list of people that I vow to kick so hard, their ancient ancestors and future descendants will feel the great dishonor I'm about to impart onto their family from such an act."

This time, Obito threw up his tea onto the table's surface, making Rin and I both cry out in disgust and jump away from him.

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**Haha I edited this chapter so you have no idea what was here before-****Also updates are slow because school sorry about that.**


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